Groundhog Day 2022

This is a developing story!

“Every February 2, a crowd of thousands gathers at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, to await a special forecast from a groundhog named Phil. If the 20-pound groundhog emerges and sees his shadow, the United States can expect six more weeks of winter weather according to legend. But, if Phil doesn’t see his shadow, we can expect warmer temperatures and the arrival of an early spring.

“Even though he’s been forecasting since 1887, Phil’s track record for the entire country isn’t perfect. To determine just how accurate he is, we’ve compared U.S. national temperatures with Phil’s forecasts. On average, Phil has gotten it right 50% of the time over the past 10 years.”

How to Watch

Will it be six more weeks of winter or an early spring? There is only one groundhog who holds the answer – Punxsutawney Phil! The Pennsylvania Tourism Office is hosting live coverage of the 136th Groundhog Day celebration in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, as he answers this burning question.

WHEN: Wednesday, February 2, 2020; 6:15 AM

WHERE: Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pa.

LIVE STREAM: http://visitpa.com/groundhog-day-live-stream/

FACEBOOK LIVE: https://www.facebook.com/visitPA/ | Note: 7:15 AM Start Time

YOUTUBE LIVE: https://www.youtube.com/c/visitpa| Note: 7:15 AM Start Time

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The death of New Jersey’s Milltown Mel

The untimely (2 days ago) death of the most famous of the Punxsutawney Phil’s – Milltown Mel – who is the star of Groundhog Day in Pennsylvania was announced yesterday with this Facebook post:

“We Wranglers are sad to report that Milltown Mel recently crossed over the rainbow bridge. Considering the average lifespan of a Groundhog is about 3 years, that is not such a shock, but Mel left us at a tough time of year, when most of his fellow groundhogs are hibernating…sono babies will be available to replace him until this Spring. We tried everywhere to get a stand-in, but to no avail! On top of that, the county is not currently renting out the big Showmobile stage due to the pandemic, so we would have had that issue as well. We will work hard on getting us a new weather prognosticator for next year, till then please check out what all of Mel’s cousins have to say on Feb 2nd.”

Punxsutawney Phil’s predictions and his accuracies – for those scientists – from NOAA: